IN THE NEWS

TOUR OF THE MONTH

ON THIS DAY IN LONDON

20th March 1968 Arsenal footballer Paul Merson was born in Harlesden, North London.

20th March 1920 1st flight from London to South Africa lands (1 months)

20th March 1906 George B Shaws Captain Brassbound's Conversion, premieres in London

20th March 1727 Issac Newton, English physicist/astronomer, died in London aged 84.

20th March 1616 Walter Raleigh released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana

Sir Henry Cooper Trained Here

The gym where Henry Cooper trained before his Ali fight.

Location: 320 Old Kent Road, Walworth

Description: This is where the Thomas a Becket pub stood, and where above it, was a boxing gym famous for being the place where Sir Henry Cooper trained in the 1960s and 1970s. It was here that in 1963 he prepared for his massive match with Muhammad Ali.

Cooper became a British, Commonwealth and European Heavyweight Champion.

Henry Cooper returned here in 2008 to unveil his own blue plaque.

Cooper floored Ali in the fourth round at Wembley with 'Enry's Ammer' - his trademark left hook - but Ali eventually won the 1963 non-title fight.

Sadly, Sir Henry Cooper, beloved of British postwar generations as no heavyweight boxer before him, died aged 76 on May 1st 2011.

His warmth and indomitable personality, together with his rise from humble roots, gave him a popularity far beyond his sport's normal boundaries. He was never world champion, but his good spirits seemed to hold a gift for everyone, even for his most notable conqueror, Muhammad Ali.